Fluorescent tube lights are widely used in a variety of locations, such as schools and office buildings. Although conventional fluorescent bulbs have certain advantages over, for example, incandescent lights, they also pose certain disadvantages including, inter alia, disposal problems due to the presence of toxic materials within the glass tube.
LED-based tube lights, which can be used as one-for-one replacements for fluorescent tube lights, have appeared in recent years. One such LED-based replacement light includes LEDs mounted on an elongated circuit board in a semi-cylindrical housing. A U-shaped lens can snap onto the housing to cover and disperse light from the LEDs. The replacement light can include two end caps, where an end cap is dispersed at each longitudinal end of the tube. The end caps generally include a molded plastic cup-shaped body that slides over the end of the tube to secure the end cap to the tube. Additionally, each end cap can include one or more connector pins for electrically and/or mechanically connecting the replacement light with standard fluorescent fixtures. For example, many end caps carry two connector pins for compatibility with fixtures designed to receive standard-sized tubes, such as T5, T8, or T12 tubes.